Benny, during the trials the aggressor aircraft were P-39's, P-40's, P-47's, and P-51's. I have no idea what production block was tested. The report mentioned that the P-38 was at a disadvantage due to the slow roll rate, and that initially, all the other aircraft outturned the P-38, even though once the turn was established, the P-38 outturned them all. The declaration to not "turn fight" was a factor of roll rate, and had nothing to do with a tighter turn radius or flap use.
I never meant that NO U.S. pilot ever dogfought an opponent during the war. In fact, I can think of two notables off the top of my head: McGuire and Kearby, both of which were killed "dogfighting". Another interesting phenomenon is U.S. and German gun camera footage from the ETO is almost always from a 6 o'clock kill position. That leads me to believe (although it may be annecdotal) that most kills were not from dogfighting where you would tend to see much more deflection shots. My statement was that the accepted tactics in all theaters regardless of airframe was one of hit and run. U.S planes were, with some early exceptions, across the board heavier, faster, and had better high-speed handling characteristics than Axis aircraft and most other Allied aircraft. To not use hit and run (aka BnZ) tactics were to sacrifice the advantages they possessed over their enemy, starting with the AVG in China before the war even began for America. Most interviews with successful American fighter pilots in the war testify to this as accepted doctrine.
